Just more of the fun.....

I got out of the shower this morning to hear the kids yelling help. They had crawled in the car seats in the living room and buckled themselves in and couldnt get out. We let them out after we took pictures of course. Life is never boring at our house.

Humanitarian Bowl

Wills family draws names for Christmas and this year we had Val and Perry. We decided to give them a nite out and took them to the Humanitarian Bowl and Murphys for dinner. We had so much fun and the food was great. If only Nevada would of won......

Christmas Day

I had a hard time keeping up with taking pictures having just my phone but I did get a few here and there. The kids had lots of fun with all the toys and stockings. Jake loved his trainset from Becky and has not stopped playing with it. The kids are so much fun at Christmas.

Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas Eves at Mom and Dad Shipleys house. The kids had a great time hanging out with all the family, and dinner was fantastic. Even with the dogs eating the fruit salad. After dinner Jake started throwing up and we had to deck out early but the kids loved all the gifts. Emilee went to sleep that nite with her barbie and new car. Jake threw up all nite but was feeling better for Christmas day thank goodness.

Frosty the Snowman.....

A few weeks before Christmas we went caroling over in Charter Pointe with some friends from our ward. Emilee and Jake had a great time in spite of the cold. We took a picture of them all bundled up before we left the house.

Jake and Larry

Too Cute!

I went in to check on the kids the other nite and found Emmy like this. I thought it was too cute not to take a picture!

Nite Out!

Tonight Will and I went out on a date to the Idaho Stampede game. It was a blast! The owner of Wills company gave us his personal courtside seats for the nite. We have never sat so close to the action and I had to take a picture to show everyone how close it really was. They even handed out stat sheets at the end of every quarter! The joys of seating in the expensive seats. We are really grateful that Will has such a great job that not only works with his school schedule but has so many added perks. I can't count how many times we have been able to take a nite out to games or dinner with tickets or gift certificates handed to us by upper management at the plant. We are really lucky! After the game we went out to P.F. Changs which was yummy! It was a great evening and again thanks to Mom and Dad Green for keeping the kids for us!

My Camera

Just a note..... Emilee has broken my camera and so now my picture taking has been limited to what my phone camera can do. We are in the process of picking and purchasing a new camera and will hopefully have one in January. But for the time being please overlook the quality of our pictures and know it will get better!

Uncle Mike

One of the things that influenced our decision to return to Boise was our families. I grew up close to all my family and one of my favorite people to hang out with is my Uncle Mike. I know that Will has really enjoyed getting to know him over the last few years and always has fun fishing and hunting with him. As the kids are getting bigger it is so much fun to watch them interact with Mike and everyone else. We feel very blessed that they have such wonderful family members surrounding them. We are very lucky!

Claus and Paws

Today the Boise Zoo did a "Claus and Paws" day at the Zoo, with free admission and a Santa Claus. Emilee wanted nothing to do with the Santa part but she did enjoy the animals. The Phelps called us this morning and since Will was planning on spending the day at the library writing a paper, I decided it would be a fun outing for me and the kids. We were able to see the new Africa animals and play on the slides. There was also a area with animal costumes that the kids could dress up in. (there are more pictures on my myspace page) The kids had a great time and then we got done in time to go meet Will for lunch at Pizza Hut. It was a nice break for him before going back to work on his paper which he is still not done with! We just have to make it through two more weeks of school and then Christmas Vacation!

Christmas Trees

This year we went up near Cougar Mountian Lodge and cut down our own christmas tree. The Phelps and some of their friends were going and invited us along. It was so much fun and the kids had a great time running around. I couldnt believe it was only ten dollars for a permit. We should of been doing this a long time ago! Emilee and Jake loved walking through the trees and then bringing it home and decorating it. Now the only thing left is to make it live til Christmas!

Rella the brave little hunter

Our sweet little kitty cat gave us our first gift this Christmas season. Will got home tonight to find a bird on the front porch. He tried to kick it off into the flower bed, but Rella didn't like that idea and pulled it back up and ate it on our doormat. We were hoping for gophers but I guess birds are a good place to start. Will thinks that she is still way behind the dogs with them eating chickens and rabbits and birds and all but I think she will catch up in no time.

Emmy Jo

So when I went to download the pics from Thanksgiving I found this on my camera. Emilee loves taking pictures and anytime I leave the camera in arms reach I am sure to get a few suprise pictures on there next time I turn it on. She will take pictures of anything and everything. The couch, the tv, toys, her brother, her cat, and of course her favorite, herself. There is always atleast one picture of her. It always makes Will and I laugh to see her and all her different faces she makes. We have got to get that girl her own camera! What a character, but thats our Jo!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, I decided since my parents and grandparents have cooked the meal my entire life it was my turn. After much planning and note taking I was ready! I found a great recipe for a turkey, I shopped, spend hours in the kitchen making pies, and at last the big day came. I got up at the ungodly hour of 6:00am, got the bird all ready and put it in the oven, and fell back asleep. What a morning. Then the fun came. My bird, the one that was suppost to take 7 hours to cook was done by 11:00. Which would of been great but we were not going to eat until 2:30. Great! Now what do I do? So I turned down the heat, and prayed! It worked! The bird was great! I took it out of the oven at 1:00 which worked out perfectly because then I could cook green bean casserole and bacon wrapped green beans in there. We had so much food I am still full. Our menu consisted of; turkey, stuffing (Which Gma brought because she would not take no for an answer.) mashed potatoes and gravy (That I did cheat on and enlist the help of Dad) candied yams, green bean casserole, bacon wrapped green beans, cinnamon applesauce, rolls (Which Audra made and were fantastic by the way!) green salad with homemade feta cheese (again Audra) a broken glass jello salad which was a recipe from my Great Grandma Vetter, and I am sure there was more but just thinking of it is making me hungry! I am quite pleased with how my first Thanksgiving turned out and if all that food was not enough we had cheesecake, pumpkin pie, blackberry pie, and a apple cranberry ginger pie. So if you get hungry in the next couple of days just drop by!

Library Night

The Ada County library out by our house does a story night once a week. Audra had been inviting us for a couple of weeks and we decided to take her up on her offer, on pirate nite no less. The kids had a great time with snacks, a puppet show, a live parrot, craft time and a book to take home. It was a nice break from our usual evening routine, and we will have to go again.

Emilee and Lora at Ballet

Emilee went to a bring a friend day at Loras ballet class.She seemed to really enjoy it and the pictures were so cute!

The Oregon Coast

So, I just got home from Beck and Dianes and I thought that since I had a second I would post some of my pics from our day at the beach. I had forgotten how amazing the ocean was! It has been about 9 years since I had been there and it was a blast to get away for the weekend and spend time with some of my favorite people! And of course no trip to the ocean is complete without a bowl of clam chowder at Mos! I had a great time and am looking forward to taking the kids in the future.

Jake and Uncle Dan

Halloween Party

The day before Halloween we took the kids to a party at Mom and Dads church. The kids had a really good time and came home with lots of candy.